Moparts
Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me
Posted By: Lil Demon
Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:13 AM
I am getting so sick of this front end that I cannot stand it. To fix my previous bump steer issues, I spent money and bought new steering arms from LRT, adjustable tie rod ends, factory spindles, and put coil overs on it.
The car aligned great for the first time since I've owned with no issues going forward or backward - woohoo - problem solved and money well spent. Not so fast...........
Today - the car goes straight as an arrow down the track, I cross the stripe and let off and hit the brake - vicious - and I mean vicious front end shake. So bad that I couldn't see - I wanted to pull the parachute handle but was afraid to let go of steering wheel - it was that bad.
I went back to Les Schwab where we aligned it last night. The caster is at +8 (as much as it can get), the camber is at -1.8, and it was neutral on the toe.
Guys with fast(I know that is relative) back half-4 link cars - what are your front settings? Others - any recommendations?
Posted By: MR_P_BODY
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:23 AM
I run about 10* caster, 0 camber and 0 toe in. It
sounds like you have something flexing.... were your
wheel bearings tight/snug
EDIT
Also Bill was the front alignment done with the body
up 1"... check your toe in at 1" up... it could be
going toe out and thats not good
Posted By: dthemi
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:33 AM
Yeah, I'd have some toe in it. At least a 32nd, but I'd try a 1/16 to see if it helps. I've never had luck with neutral toe on anything, even tube cars.
Posted By: 540dust
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:34 AM
Got 8 caster, 0 camber, and less than .0625" toe in. Do you have an aftermarket front end ?
Posted By: Al_Alguire
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:36 AM
I agree..For me 1/16"+- has always worked well in a back half car. You might also just give the front a once over, always a good idea. Never checked that driver side bearing at the track.
Posted By: Sport440
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:47 AM
If its running straight as a arrow down the track and going into shimmy on decell, you still have some Bump steer or some kind of flex issues or both going on.
Your numbers on the caster are fine but why the -1.5* on the camber. Id want that at 0*
Whats the rest of the front suspension steering setup. I take it that it has a R/P in it. mike
Posted By: Chuck@Best_Machine
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:50 AM
I had the same problem, the LRT lower arms are flexing
Posted By: Chuck@Best_Machine
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:51 AM
#2
Posted By: Chuck@Best_Machine
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:51 AM
#3
Posted By: dthemi
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:55 AM
The flex would make it go into bump steer, some generous toe would make it better I think. I know it's a band aid, but it's always been a cure all for the brake watoosie.
Posted By: Edge
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:59 AM
Had the same problem with the LRT front end on the duster. Also found some cracks in the lower arm. Repaired arm and it is now acceptable.
Posted By: Lil Demon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 05:12 AM
My front end is very bastardized. Stock front clip, DARE K-Frame (on it when I bought it - I didn't know), Magnum Force tubular uppers (non-adjustable), Stock LCAs, LRT steering arms, Flaming River Pinto R/P, Aldan coil overs.
Looking at the vids - the wheels are definitely toeing out when it lifts them in the air.
So - if I set the toe at ride height +1" - do I set it at 1/16" in?
The negative caster I think may be the best it can get - not sure. I may need adjustable UCAs
Posted By: dthemi
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 05:19 AM
Yeah, make it pigeon toed, I'd get my fattest buddy to sit on the front end after you set it and roll it forward about 5 feet and check it there too. I know the brake load pulls the arms back and you can't really simulate that, but it will let you know about how it travels.
Posted By: MR_P_BODY
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 05:22 AM
Quote:
My front end is very bastardized. Stock front clip, DARE K-Frame (on it when I bought it - I didn't know), Magnum Force tubular uppers (non-adjustable), Stock LCAs, LRT steering arms, Flaming River Pinto R/P, Aldan coil overs.
Looking at the vids - the wheels are definitely toeing out when it lifts them in the air.
So - if I set the toe at ride height +1" - do I set it at 1/16" in?
The negative caster I think may be the best it can get - not sure. I may need adjustable UCAs
Yes set the toe at 1/16 in at 1" up on the body. I
assume you just made a error in saying caster instead
of camber but you would be better off with adjustable
UCA's
Posted By: 540dust
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 05:35 AM
Posted By: Lil Demon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 05:37 AM
Quote:
Does it kinda do this:
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/145946.htm
That's what it feels like it is doing when I lift and hit the brake.
Posted By: 540dust
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 05:44 AM
Well, that wasnt mine but I did have a Dare and it would do that too. I fought it for a while and finally got rid of it. My conclusion was that it was just not strong enough and was flexing. I don't have the problem with the RMS that I have in it now. In my situation, anytime that you would load the suspension, by braking or hitting any bumps or rough spots, (my home track is kinda rough in the shutdown), it would do just this same kind of shake. I could get off the brakes and touch the throttle a little to unload it and it would go away, this would play hell with you stopping distance though, not a safe situation. You have a PM.
Posted By: Lil Demon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 05:51 AM
That's what I did on the last two runs - instead of hitting the brakes and lifting, I drug them a bit and slowly rolled off and would get back on it a little to bring it back up. Used all of the runout doing that. Anything shorter and I would have to pull the chute - which would just be embarrassing in a 9.30 car.
Posted By: Moparteacher
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 06:24 AM
The length of the inner-to-outer tie rod must be equal to the length of the lower control arm (pivot to pivot). They must also rise and drop in a parallel plain. Anything different and you get a change in toe as the suspension goes through jounce and rebound, in other words "bump steer".
The outer tie rod can be shimmed toward or away from the knuckle to obtain the parallel travel, but a rack-n-pinion (inner/outer tie rod) that doesn't match the length of the lower control arms gets a little more complicated.
You can heat and bend the lower ball joint arm up and down or inward or outward to help achieve the equal length and parallel, but only so far.
The Mopar chassis book shows you how to graph changes in toe throughout jounce and rebound and how to correct it. It works for any LSA suspension, but with miss-matched parts there may be only one solution and that's to purchase parts that are engineered to work together.
When it's all said and done camber should be at or near zero regardless. Cross-camber and cross-caster should be less than .5 degree. Preferably zero for a flat track. Excessive positive caster will cause rapid wheel shimmy. You need only enough positive caster to maintain directional stability.
One last thing. Excessive positive scrub radius will put an excessive load on the suspension components and could be a cause for flexing and cracking.
Positive scrub radius occurs when the alignment of the upper and lower ball joints meets the road inside of the point at which the center of the tire meets the road.
Positive scrub radius results from using smaller diameter wheels and tires and/or using a wheel that has little or no offset (common with front runners).
Some positive scrub radius is OK; it's the excessive that causes problems.
Good luck
Posted By: Lil Demon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 06:31 AM
Quote:
The length of the inner-to-outer tie rod must be equal to the length of the lower control arm (pivot to pivot). They must also rise and drop in a parallel plain. Anything different and you get a change in toe as the suspension goes through jounce and rebound, in other words "bump steer".
The outer tie rod can be shimmed toward or away from the knuckle to obtain the parallel travel, but a rack-n-pinion (inner/outer tie rod) that doesn't match the length of the lower control arms gets a little more complicated.
You can heat and bend the lower ball joint arm up and down or inward or outward to help achieve the equal length and parallel, but only so far.
The Mopar chassis book shows you how to graph changes in toe throughout jounce and rebound and how to correct it. It works for any LSA suspension, but with miss-matched parts there may be only one solution and that's to purchase parts that are engineered to work together.
When it's all said and done camber should be at or near zero regardless. Cross-camber and cross-caster should be less than .5 degree. Preferably zero for a flat track. Excessive positive caster will cause rapid wheel shimmy. You need only enough positive caster to maintain directional stability.
One last thing. Excessive positive scrub radius will put an excessive load on the suspension components and could be a cause for flexing and cracking.
Positive scrub radius occurs when the alignment of the upper and lower ball joints meets the road inside of the point at which the center of the tire meets the road.
Positive scrub radius results from using smaller diameter wheels and tires and/or using a wheel that has little or no offset (common with front runners).
Some positive scrub radius is OK; it's the excessive that causes problems.
Good luck
You know your stuff - now - how close to Rocklin, CA are you?
Posted By: Moparteacher
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 06:36 AM
Vegas!...OK..North Las Vegas. Autotmotive Instructor for the College of Southern Nevada.
Posted By: Lil Demon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 07:52 AM
Quote:
Vegas!...OK..North Las Vegas. Autotmotive Instructor for the College of Southern Nevada.
Cool - I'll come to the MATS a day early and you can teach your students how to fix bumpsteer on the car of an idiot who has mismatched parts - LOL!!! It's a win-win.
Posted By: autoxcuda
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 08:41 AM
Quote:
Quote:
Vegas!...OK..North Las Vegas. Autotmotive Instructor for the College of Southern Nevada.
Cool - I'll come to the MATS a day early and you can teach your students how to fix bumpsteer on the car of an idiot who has mismatched parts - LOL!!! It's a win-win.
You need a bumpsteer gauge for that too.
There is a scrub radius gauge too. I think you could find one through the circle track suppliers like Longacre. SAI measurement on an alignment rack and some calcs should get you close too.
Posted By: B1Fish540
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 10:17 AM
Quote:
Quote:
Vegas!...OK..North Las Vegas. Autotmotive Instructor for the College of Southern Nevada.
Cool - I'll come to the MATS a day early and you can teach your students how to fix bumpsteer on the car of an idiot who has mismatched parts - LOL!!! It's a win-win.
Lil Demon will be your "visual aid" 
Posted By: dvw
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 01:38 PM
I will be at the Mats on vacation. I have a pretty good understanding of front suspension geometry. I would be glad to look at the car and go over it with you. I can show you how to measure the components so you can get it right. I don't think we could repair it at the track but I can steer you in the right direction.
Doug
Posted By: VernMotor
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 01:53 PM
+8 caster...is too much. I run +4..and 0 on camber ...Just my 2 cents
Posted By: toddd
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 02:08 PM
My car does the same thing as the video, but it does it when i launch.
I have a vid if anyone wants to see.
I think I might have found the problem, if it's caused by flexing?.
My question is....Should i be looking for possible component flexing to cure this OR is it the way the front end is aligned?
Thanks
todd
Posted By: 340RICK
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 03:02 PM
Your front end alingment is not your prob
Like stated above its the length of tie rods and postion of the tie rod that will cause bump steer.
I would bet that you also have a K frame that is flexing as well.
The force of the spindle wanting to twist when the brakes are applied is greater than you might think.
Bondo and I went all thru this last summer in Perfecting his steering arms and tie rod ends.
Posted By: hot67cuda
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 03:42 PM
While in enginneering school my team was given a problem to solve the 560 benz front end shimmy on decellthat was causing crashes.Thay had 10 deg of positive caster on them.1/16 toe in,0 caster.What we found was on decell when the front end went down was the driver side would drop before the pas side would creating 1.5 difference in caster,<the grocerey cart effect>to corect this we had 2 adjest the upper control arm mounting points for caster gain.The second part is with 10deg of caster setting toe is very hard to do it takes several sweeps on the tables too get it right.
Posted By: 1976 Aspen
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 03:56 PM
It shakes only whenyou're braking??? Sounds like warped brake rotors too me
Simple fix
Posted By: Lil Demon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 03:59 PM
Quote:
It shakes only whenyou're braking??? Sounds like warped brake rotors too me Simple fix
I'm pretty sure the rotors are not warped, but I'll add that to the list of things to check.
Posted By: MR_P_BODY
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:03 PM
Some of the guys here think 8*-10* is too much caster,
what do you think all of the fastest drag cars run.
I have about 10* on my car and I can let go of the
wheel anytime after the torque of the engine is done
trying to twist the car.... even on decell on top end.
Granted its a strut. You have to look at the distance
between the ball joint centerline to the center of the tire...
thats a substantial leverage arm to apply a load
to ANY weak points/parts. In production we didnt
put a dished wheel on just to clear the fender, its
put on to align the loads
Posted By: mopar_to_ya
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:06 PM
Quote:
It shakes only whenyou're braking??? Sounds like warped brake rotors too me Simple fix
My LRT does the same thing about midway through the shutdown. If I lift off the brakes and re apply then it usually stops. But if you all are cracking steering arms, that scares me. I thought I was the only one out there with this problem. I guess I'll have to do some more checking.
Rob told me that the new steering arm design would fix any issues, but I never got any to find out for sure.
Posted By: 540dust
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:07 PM
Your situation may be different but when I had my Dare the more bumpsteer I took out of it made no difference at all on the shake.
Posted By: Lil Demon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:11 PM
Quote:
Quote:
It shakes only whenyou're braking??? Sounds like warped brake rotors too me Simple fix
My LRT does the same thing about midway through the shutdown. If I lift off the brakes and re apply then it usually stops. But if you all are cracking steering arms, that scares me. I thought I was the only one out there with this problem. I guess I'll have to do some more checking.
Rob told me that the new steering arm design would fix any issues, but I never got any to find out for sure.
I have the new arms and never had this issue before putting them on. I'm not blaming them, just pointing out they could be a contributing factor.
Posted By: Lil Demon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:12 PM
Quote:
Your situation may be different but when I had my Dare the more bumpsteer I took out of it made no difference at all on the shake.
I'ver always had bumpsteer, but never the shakes like this.
Posted By: go green
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:13 PM
I had the same problem in my Coronet .
I would have to drag the brakes two times before I could lean on them .
The Wilwood brake pad compound is junk .
I changed to a drag race pad it it help out huge.
I think I got them from strange ?
Posted By: MR_P_BODY
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 04:25 PM
Quote:
Quote:
Your situation may be different but when I had my Dare the more bumpsteer I took out of it made no difference at all on the shake.
I'ver always had bumpsteer, but never the shakes like this.
All thats really happened is that with changing some
parts trying to get lighter you have found some weak
points, weather its a control arm or what ever, as soon
as you apply load to the tire on braking its twisting
the front end at the weak point. The guys with the
big off road tires have the same issues but they
cover it up with the damper on the steering... they
just found the weak point also. We already know its
not your alignment(if things dont change or bend)
because its not doing it during your run... this is
induced when you apply the brakes
Posted By: 68Fastback
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 07:17 PM
Hey Bill first off be careful. Do you have the old arms still, maybe you can take a step back to get the car stable under braking. Just a question, could the arms be flexing during the run causing resistance and you to scrub speed. Good luck.
Posted By: MoparDonny
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 08:05 PM
Not that I know ANYTHING about front end geometry, but could some of this be avoided if the brake bias was a little more generous to the rear brakes? Within reason and safety of course.
Just thinking out loud.
Don.
Posted By: MR_P_BODY
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/22/09 08:12 PM
Quote:
Not that I know ANYTHING about front end geometry, but could some of this be avoided if the brake bias was a little more generous to the rear brakes? Within reason and safety of course.
Just thinking out loud.
Don.
Sure it can... most likely it would be a proportionate value
Posted By: 540DUSTER
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/23/09 08:08 PM
lil demon,have you ever measured the toe of each wheel by itself thru its full range? I bet if your car is like mine one wheel toes in and the other toes out when you hit the brakes.
Posted By: Lil Demon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/23/09 08:11 PM
I hadn't thought about that.
Posted By: Sixpak
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/24/09 02:44 PM
What MoparTeacher and Fish540 are referring to are all in the MP Chassis manual. It tells you how to plot the toe changes through the range of front end travel, and what to do to correct it. Most of what is there in the manual will apply to you, with the one caveat that it applies to a stock K frame and how to modify it to help correct the problem. But the underlying principles are the same.
Along with that I would also look at the possible flexing in some of the lighter weight components in the front end.
Posted By: QWK_ENUF
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/24/09 04:11 PM
http://www.heidts.com/pdf/Understanding_IFS.pdfthis link explains it all,when i made my own front end i used this info to set it up.
works great
my home made front end
https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/show...&PHPSESSID=
Posted By: 4404dart
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/24/09 05:35 PM
Quote:
Quote:
It shakes only whenyou're braking??? Sounds like warped brake rotors too me Simple fix
My LRT does the same thing about midway through the shutdown. If I lift off the brakes and re apply then it usually stops. But if you all are cracking steering arms, that scares me. I thought I was the only one out there with this problem. I guess I'll have to do some more checking.
Rob told me that the new steering arm design would fix any issues, but I never got any to find out for sure.
I have a LRT, and the same problem. When I changed to the frontend, I also picked up some MPH. I started having the shimmy/shaking problem at shut down hitting the brakes. I replace the rotors, pads, and bearings, still have the shakes. I just ordered a new hub and bearings, thinking that there may be something with the races in the hub? I'm having to push on the brakes, then let off, then lightly on the brakes again. Doing this the return road comes up quick at 147. This year the car will be 155 mph or so. I'll be watching this, and trying things suggested. 
I don't run the washers for the strut rod bushings this way, they are turned around from this old pic.
Posted By: 340B5
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/24/09 05:39 PM
I gotta get me one them thar Bum Steer guages!
Posted By: Sport440
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/24/09 06:21 PM
The MP Chassis charts are for Rear steer. Once you understand how they work you will have to reverse the results to apply them to a Front steer.
As a example, if a tie rod is to long on a Rear steer it will toe the wheel In. That same tie rod would on a Front steer will toe the wheel Out. To use those MP charts all one May only have to do is to reverse all " toe in and toe out " verbage. But to be sure I would have to examine those charts again.
That Heids Pdf explains the front suspension pretty well. Longacre Racing has a well detailed artcle as well. I will try to find a link. mike
Posted By: MFR440
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/24/09 10:06 PM
Quote:
Does it kinda do this:
WOW! Cool video!! Where'd you get that?!
Posted By: 540dust
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/24/09 10:27 PM
MFR440 Hope you don't mind I latched on to that a long time ago cause I was having the same trouble with a DARE at the time, I worked my tail off on that thing trying to get the bumpster out of it, but as I said before, never helped, what fixed it was to get rid of it, that fixed it. Great vid, brings out the scarey factor really well.
Posted By: slantzilla
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 12:33 AM
A couple members here had the asame issues with the LRT front end a couple years ago. The fix was front wheels with more offset.
Posted By: mopar_to_ya
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 03:35 AM
Quote:
I have a LRT, and the same problem. When I changed to the frontend, I also picked up some MPH. I started having the shimmy/shaking problem at shut down hitting the brakes. I replace the rotors, pads, and bearings, still have the shakes. I just ordered a new hub and bearings, thinking that there may be something with the races in the hub? I'm having to push on the brakes, then let off, then lightly on the brakes again. Doing this the return road comes up quick at 147. This year the car will be 155 mph or so. I'll be watching this, and trying things suggested.
I have had this issue since day one. I feel your pain watching the turnoff coming at a HIGH rate of speed 
. Now I see that Chuck at Best had a steering arm crack. I'm going to go back over my frontend before I put my motor back in this time. I see you have the newest version of the k-frame with the extra added braces, so I'm thinking that isn't an issue. And I was also told it was the wheel offset on the front wheels, but I already have the most offset in that you can buy. I'm also going to try another strut rod set-up on mine that is more rigid but much more free than stock.
Keep me posted, and I'll do the same.
BTW 440dart, I also run the torsion bar set-up.
Posted By: fbs63
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 03:41 AM
I have the LRT K and never had a problem. My car has gone 153 mph. My alignment is 3 deg caster,0 camber and 1/16 toe in. That being said I do think an alignment with max caster and 0 toe causes this shake with this particular K member. I know people who have switched from 1.75 to 2.25 offset wheels and solved the problem also.
Bob
Posted By: Sport440
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 04:10 AM
Mopar to ya, Just from your pics, your tie rod angle is wrong in relationship to the lower control arm.
It either needs to be raised at the inner pivot point or dropped at the outer pivot point, or a combination of both. Just my opinion from the pics. A full view of both the inner and outer pivot points would be better for me to judge.
But no doubt, you have bump steer issues or issues as you already know. mike
Posted By: mopar_to_ya
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 04:12 AM
Quote:
My alignment is 3 deg caster,0 camber and 1/16 toe in. That being said I do think an alignment with max caster and 0 toe causes this shake with this particular K member. I know people who have switched from 1.75 to 2.25 offset wheels and solved the problem also.
Bob
Hey Bob,
I wasn't aware you ran a LRT. Have you always run 3 deg of caster? I was told to run more and that's the way mine is aligned. I already run the 2.25 offset wheels. I run 0 camber and 1/16th toe in too. Is yours a torsion bar set-up or coil over? Let me know.
Thanks and take care.
Love your car
Posted By: mopar_to_ya
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 04:20 AM
Quote:
Mopar to ya, Just from your pics, your tie rod angle is wrong in relationship to the lower control arm.
You got me thinking now, but I am pretty sure that was a pic before it was aligned. But I will surely check tomorrow. I was just showing the style of steering arm I have compared to 440dart's.
Posted By: fbs63
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 04:39 AM
Mopar to ya,
The alignment has been the same since I brought the car out. I have coil-overs on the front so that may be the difference. The people that I have talked to that had shake also had a lot of caster so there has to be something there.
Bob
Posted By: DRAGRCR632
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 04:51 AM
im goin to make one post on this subject
first the shimmy IS NOT bumpsteer period
the shimmy is from one of 2 things
strut bushings install in correctly or loose
(which will also shimmy on a stock K the same)
second cause is an angle called scrub raduis
of the cars that shimmy are 73 and up
a body and B body style spindle i adressed this in the newer style arm by moving the ball joint location
with ALL 73 and up deals i sell you MUST use
the newer arm mill back of the spindle a min .250
and use the 2.25 offset 3.5 wide wheel
i thought i had solved all of them out there
but as i see on moparts i havent
its funny of the people on here not one has
contacted me directly to talk over to see what
can be done to help solve it(as i said above)
chuck was the only one but cant say for sure
what caused his to crack
i will tell you this the shimmy is direct cause
of most of the crackin or a voilent wheelin heavy
car
i have 100s of customers out there with NO SHIMMY
73 and up & 9-10 drum
LRT
Posted By: Sport440
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 04:52 AM
Mopar to ya. Your right, the alignment setup, caster, can change the tie rod angle significantly up or down compared to the lower control arm.
Positive caster moves the outer tie rod pivot point up while negative caster moves the outer tie rod pivot point down by over a 1"+ or so. This also effects toe in and out a bunch.
I didnt mean to single you out, Just trying to pass a little info along from what ive learned with my car.
Ive been working and honing issues on my R/P car since 96. Im finally starting to figure things out. mike
Posted By: mopar_to_ya
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 01:14 PM
Rob,
I'm not busting your coconuts. I see that another member has my same issue and with the newer k and arms, and I simply stated that must not be the problem. My car drives great, it just shimmys in the shutdown. And we spoke about this a year ago. Mine is et-up exactly the way you told me and I have the 2.25 offset wheel. I've never gotten the newer arms. I just want to check mine over since I see Chuck's arms were cracked.
As far as the main post with LilDemon, I think most of your problem is in the dare k-frame itself.
Posted By: mopar_to_ya
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 01:18 PM
Quote:
I didnt mean to single you out, Just trying to pass a little info along from what ive learned with my car.
Ive been working and honing issues on my R/P car since 96. Im finally starting to figure things out. mike
Hey Mike,
No problem. Been messing with mine for a few years too. When you get it straightened out, you will love how it drives. Good luck.
Posted By: MR_P_BODY
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 02:23 PM
I can see part of your problem in your pic. First is
the distance from the centerline of the ball joint to
the centerline of the tire.... we will say thats 3"
and as you apply the brakes it wants to torque back
and now it has a 3" moment arm. We all use wheels that
tend to hang past the ball joint centerline. Now look
at the distance from the steering arm to the centerline
of the outer tie rod end with that spacer in there....
with the bolt. I know that bolt isnt a press fit
into both parts. As the brakes apply the tire tries
to move rearward torquing on the steering arm and
finding the slop in the bolt to the sreering and
heim plus the distance between the 2 parts
Posted By: 4404dart
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 02:32 PM
Quote:
Mopar to ya, Just from your pics, your tie rod angle is wrong in relationship to the lower control arm.
It either needs to be raised at the inner pivot point or dropped at the outer pivot point, or a combination of both. Just my opinion from the pics. A full view of both the inner and outer pivot points would be better for me to judge.
But no doubt, you have bump steer issues or issues as you already know. mike
Mine is a little different(new style ?). Mine is a 70 , 10 inch drum spindle. I wouldn't mind trying a different strut rod that's more solid, and a 2.25 offset wheel.
Posted By: cudadon
Re: Front End Issues Continue to Haunt Me - 02/25/09 03:36 PM
I agree with mopar to ya that lil demon's problem starts with the DARE K frame that he put LRT's steering arms on!
I had the shutdown shimmy in the past.
We found that I had the wrong strut bushings. Put the right bushings in and at the same time put the new design arms. (they are also shorter=better steer radius)
I wanted the newer and lighter Weld 2.0 wheels so I got 2.25 backspace instead of 1.75 I had!
This was done in the winter so I didn't test if any 1 change solved the shimmy problem.
Later this year I may be able to put the 1.75 BS wheels on and see if that makes a difference.
I have NO BRAKE SHIMMY NOW!! I can't say which change other than the bushings did it. Don
